May 11, 2002

LOS ANGELES - Oregon's Courtney Nagle rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third set to down Marianne Bakken and clinch the 39th-ranked Ducks' 4-2 upset of No. 18 UNLV in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship Saturday.

Playing at Marks Tennis Stadium on the campus of regional host USC, Oregon began the morning by taking the first two completed doubles matches for one team point.

Needing to take four of six singles matches to win, UNLV quickly tied things when 97th-ranked Gyorgyi Zsiros won her 18th consecutive match, 6-3, 6-1 over Monika Gieczys, at the second position. The Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year improved to 29-7 overall and finished an amazing 21-1 in dual matches this spring.

Oregon regained the lead by winning two straight-setters of its own. At the top spot, 86th-ranked Daria Panova eased by Paulina Janus, 6-4, 6-1, and Davina Mendiburu swept Leentjie Oosthuizen 6-1, 6-2 on court five. The Lady Rebels then made it 3-2 when Tracie Chong won 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 over Vickie Gunnarsson at No. 4. With the meeting at No. 3 tied early in the third set, Nagle made her comeback on court six and prevailed 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to end the match.

"It was a very frustrating day all around," UNLV head coach Kevin Cory said. "We came out flat in doubles and that turned out to be the deciding point. You have to give Oregon credit, however, because they played well."

UNLV, which finished with a record of 20-4, had its seven-match winning streak snapped by the lowest ranked team it lost to all season. Oregon improved to 14-10 and will take on USC in Sunday's second-round match. The Lady of Troy shut out Oral Roberts 4-0 in the day's later match. The winner will advance to the Round of 16 to be played at Stanford.

"I am really proud of us for having defeated a ranked and very talented UNLV team," Oregon head coach Jack Griffin said. "We knew it would be tough and it was a really great effort from our team."

The Lady Rebels, who won their second MWC championship in three years on April 27, have never reached the regional final and fell to 1-3 in three all-time NCAA team appearances.

"This was a disappointing ending to a great season," Cory said. "Hopefully we'll be able to learn from this and use it to help us get better next season."

2002 NCAA WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
FIRST ROUND
(#39) OREGON 4, (#18) UNLV 2
At Marks Tennis Stadium, Los Angeles
SINGLES-(OREGON WINS THREE TEAM POINTS)1. (88) Daria Panova (O) def. #102 Paulina Janus (UNLV) 6-4, 6-12. (97) Gyorgyi Zsiros (UNLV) def. Monika Gieczys (O)   6-3, 6-13. Agnieszka Abram (UNLV) vs. (112) Janice Nyland (O)   Halted at 4-6, 6-4, 1-14. Tracie Chong (UNLV) def. Vickie Gunnarsson (O)    6-4, 3-6, 6-45. Davina Mendiburu (O) def. Leentjie Oosthuizen (UNLV) 6-1, 6-26. Courtney Nagle (O) def. Marianne Bakken (UNLV)     2-6, 6-4, 6-4
DOUBLES-(OREGON WINS ONE TEAM POINT)1. Nagle/Mendiburu (O) def. Janus/Abram (UNLV)       8-62. Nyland/Panova (O) def. Zsiros/Bakken (UNLV)       8-43. Gunnarsson/Gieczys (O) vs. Chong/Oosthuizen (UNLV)Halted at 6-3